The prospects for avoiding a teacher strike in the Rittman Exempted Village School District next week look bleak following an unsuccessful negotiating session Thursday.

"We don't have a settlement. There are no meetings scheduled," Rittman superintendent Butch Ullman said following the negotiating session Thursday evening with the Rittman Education Association.

The REA has filed a notice of intent to strike at 6 a.m. Sept. 30 if a contract settlement is not reached.

Ullman emphasized the disappointment of the board negotiating team because they entered Thursday's session with items they felt they could make progress with with the REA representatives.

"And REA left the session without making any attempt to counter our offer," he said.

"The board of education has resisted making this process public but we believe there have been too many half-truths being published that have influenced this process," he said, "The board of education is still hoping to avoid a work stoppage on Sept. 30 by settling a contract that is fair to the teachers and the community."

Ullman said the board of education recognizes the teachers took a base salary freeze from 1993 to 1995.

He also said that freeze was when the district was having financial difficulties and was borrowing money from the state.

"This evening the board of education offered REA a 14 percent salary increase distributed over three years of the contract, which REA refused to counter," he said, "The board of education has offered a salary counter each of the last three mediation sessions and REA has not offered any counter salary offers since opening negotiations in April."

Rittman Education Association president Ed Sims would not comment on the specific amount of the raise, or other negotiation details, saying that the Ohio Revised Code and negotiation agreement between the two parties prohibit anyone from doing so.

Sims did say, however, that at Thursday's meeting, "the board had an offer that was slightly changed from a previous offer, and so we wanted face-to-face discussions to try to find common ground."

Sims said the proposal given to the union by the board addressed only four or five issues and that the board has refused to make a counter offer on the remaining issues.

"(After Thursday's meeting,) the board has refused to meet with us and has said they already know what we have to say. They have indicated there will be no more meetings until we strike," Sims said.

Ullman said the board has changed its position on shared-premium costs for health and medical insurance, asking for $50 per month for a family and no premium sharing for a single. The board had previously asked for a 90 percent shared-premium cost for both plans.

"The board of education has offered additional life insurance and a discounted prescription card," he said, "Again, the REA left negotiations without offering a counter to the board of education since opening negotiations in April."

The board has made several concessions in accumulated sick leave and offered increased severance pay and increased professional development funds paid to teachers for reimbursement for additional course work. He said the board also has withdrawn issues from the table that it had originally proposed.

"Issues that have stopped the negotiations process include additional days out of the classroom, length of work day, individual issues involving stipends and management rights," Ullman said.

He said they do have tentative agreement on parts of issues.

Tentative agreement has been reached on the pay schedule, which determines when checks are issued, and on language involving fair share, union dues for teachers who are not union members but are still required to pay union dues.

At its regular September meeting, the board approved a resolution to authorize Ullman to take the steps necessary to continue the operation of the district if there is a strike by the REA.

The authorization includes hiring temporary employees and purchasing services necessary to continue operations.

The last time the REA went on strike was the first day of school of the 1979-80 school year.

The strike lasted four days and teachers were back to work following Labor Day.